Office of polar programs committee of visitors



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FY2003 REPORT FROM THE

OFFICE OF POLAR PROGRAMS

COMMITTEE OF VISITORS


Office of Polar Programs

U.S. National Science Foundation

Washington, D.C.


September 2003

FY 2003 REPORT FROM THE OFFICE OF POLAR PROGRAMS

COMMITTEE OF VISITORS (COV)

17-19 SEPTEMBER 2003
Table of Contents
Page

NSF Committee of Visitors (COV) Reviews 3


NSF Office of Polar Programs FY 2003 COV Review of the

Arctic Science Section and Antarctic Science Section 3


The FY 2003 OPP Committee of Visitors (COV) 4
The agenda & work plan of the FY 2003 Committee of Visitors 4
Sources of information and data for the period FY 2000-2002 5
Review of proposal jackets 6
Responses to the NSF Committee of Visitors Core Questions 6
A.1. Quality and Effectiveness of Merit Review Procedures 6

A.2. Implementation of NSF Merit Review Criteria 9

A.3. Selection of Reviewers 9

A.4. Resulting Portfolio of Awards 10

A.5. Management of the Program under Review 14
B.1. NSF Outcome Goal for People 16

B.2. NSF Outcome Goal for Ideas 17

B.3. NSF Outcome Goal for Tools 17
C.1. Program areas in need of improvements or gaps

within program areas 18

C.2. Program’s performance in meeting program-specific

goals and objectives not covered by Core Questions

A1-29 and B1-3 19

C.3. Agency wide issues that should be addressed by NSF to

improve the program’s performance 19

C.4. Other relevant issues 19

C.5. Improving the COV review process, format and report template 21


FY 2003 REPORT FROM THE OFFICE OF POLAR PROGRAMS

COMMITTEE OF VISITORS, 17-19 SEPTEMBER 2003

NSF Committee of Visitors (COV) Reviews

An NSF Committee of Visitors (COV) is asked to provide “a balanced assessment of ….. performance in two primary areas, the integrity and efficiency of the processes related to proposal review, and the quality of the results of investments in the form of outputs that appear over time. The COV also explores the relationships between award decisions and program/NSF-wide goals in order to determine the likelihood that the portfolio will lead to the desired results in the future ……. It is important to recognize that reports generated by COV’s are used in assessing agency progress in order to meet government-wide performance reporting requirements, and are made available to the public….” (Committee of Visitors Reviews, NSF Manual 1, Section VII).


COV’s tasked with reviews of NSF Divisions, Directorates and Offices in 2003 are asked to respond to a set of Core Questions organized within the following major categories:

A.1. Quality and Effectiveness of Merit Review Procedures

A.2. Implementation of NSF Merit Review Criteria

A.3. Selection of Reviewers

A.4. Resulting Portfolio of Awards

A.5. Management of Program Under Review


B.1 NSF Outcome Goal for People

B.2 NSF Outcome Goal for Ideas



B.3 NSF Outcome Goal for Tools
C.1 – C.5 Other issues that the COV feels are relevant to the review

NSF Office of Polar Programs FY 2003 COV Review of the

Arctic Science Section and Antarctic Science Section
This report presents the results of the FY 2003 COV review of the Antarctic Science and Arctic Science (including logistics) sections of the Office of Polar Programs for the period FY 2000-2002, and it follows the template of major topic areas and Core Questions set forth in the NSF COV directive cited above. It is noted that these sections were last reviewed in July of 2000 (spanning the period FY 1997-1999).
In summary, the COV finds OPP to be effectively managed, with proposal solicitation and review increasingly addressing both major review criteria by the end of the period reviewed. Importantly, the results of OPP’s investments are exciting, worthwhile and of high quality, and OPP’s administrative and management processes are thorough and sound, with high integrity.

The FY 2003 OPP Committee of Visitors (COV)
Dr. Karl Erb, Director of the Office of Polar Programs, appointed a Committee of Visitors (COV) comprising: Raymond Bradley (University of Massachusetts), Howard Epstein (University of Virginia), Sven Haakanson (Alutiiq Museum, Kodiak), Beverly Hartline (Argonne National Laboratory), Gonzalo Hernandez (University of Washington), Martin Jeffries (University of Alaska, Fairbanks), Molly Miller (Vanderbilt University), Marilyn Raphael (University of California, Los Angeles), James Swift (Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla), James Taranik (University of Nevada, Reno), Peter Webb (Ohio State University), and Karen Wishner (University of Rhode Island). The committee was chaired by Peter Webb, with Beverly Hartline and Martin Jeffries representing the Office of Polar Programs Office Advisory Committee (OAC). The Committee of Visitors (COV) is an ad hoc subcommittee of the OAC. The expertise among the FY 2003 COV group spanned most specialty areas in the OPP’s science programs.

The Agenda and Work plan of the FY 2003 Committee of Visitors
The FY 2003 Committee of Visitors met at the National Science Foundation over three days from 17-19 September 2003, during Hurricane Isabel.
Dr. Erb presented the charge to the FY 2003 Committee of Visitors and clarified its duties within the framework of NSF’s Core Question template. To launch the task and assist the committee, the meeting commenced with overview presentations by senior Office of Polar Program administrative staff. Dr. Karl Erb provided a comprehensive overview of the OPP mission, this including information on the current Office administrative structure and personnel, major areas of science administered by OPP in both the Arctic and Antarctic regions, the role of OPP in promoting NSF agency-wide priorities in research, education and technology, the representation of polar science to the public and society at large, proposal, budget and other information. Dr. Robert Wharton briefed the committee on Conflict of Interest issues. Then followed illustrated presentations of past, planned and proposed OPP program activities within the Arctic Science Section (Dr. Thomas Pyle, Section Head) and Antarctic Science Section (Dr. Scott Borg, Section Head).
During the following two and a half days the COV considered data from these presentations along with a range of other of documentation as it addressed NSF Core Questions and developed summary comments and recommendations. The onset of Hurricane Isabel and the consequent closing of government offices prevented the COV from discussing its conclusions with OPP program officers and managers at the end of its deliberations. However, the committee chair and one other COV member met with the OPP staff the following week for this purpose. The work of the committee was rendered more difficult by the government closing but arrangements were made for it to complete much of its activity in a local hotel. Final report editing was conducted via e-mail and phone discussions.


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